Industrial applications typically employ systems including multiple different components in a system. For example, a gas combustion appliance may include sensors, actuators, interfaces, controllers, and other components. These components may exchange control and data signals with a connected controller unit using analog signaling. Analog signaling often requires expensive cabling such as heavy gauge copper wire, specialized thermocouple wire, or shielded and insulated ignition wire. Analog signaling is also prone to interference from electrical and other types of noise. For at least this reason, industrial control systems typically must locate control components close to the component being controlled or monitored to reduce installation costs and to minimize susceptibility to noise.
More complex industrial applications include multiple appliance and other components on a common site that typically needs to be coordinated for proper operation and for safety. These applications are often controlled and monitored by a centralized plant control system. In the case of smaller sites, the plant control system is often a programmable logic controller (PLC). PLCs greatly increase cost since they include safety certified software and hardware. Additional cost in the present art results from programming the PLCs to fulfill a specific or targeted task by a trained professional.
The plant control system will often communicate with other controllers or PLCs at the site. These additional controllers typically perform a more specialized task beyond duties associated with the plant control system. Commonly, data is transmitted between these controller using aging protocols, such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) protocols. One example of a SCADA protocol is Modbus, which has a low data rate and other limitation on the data itself. For example, since Modbus was designed decades ago when 16-bit data was common, the protocol lacks support for large binary objects, descriptions of data objects for nodes, or security precautions against unauthorized commands or interception of data. Additionally, Modbus and similar protocols require specialized connections configured with a properly terminated daisy-chain or multi-drop bus wiring scheme.
Additionally, due to the inherently inflexible nature of current industrial control systems, expansion or modification is typically highly involved and expensive. This is due to the fact that adding a new component may require multiple different types of wires to connect it, including power, digital control and status lines, and analog control and status lines. Current industrial control system typically additionally require PLC programming to add support for additional components added to the control and safety logic.
Therefore, a need exists to solve the deficiencies present in the prior art. What is needed is a customizable networking system. What is needed is a networking system with a modular design. What is needed is a networking system that is easily expandable. What is needed is a networking system capable of communicating operating instructions and data between modules with virtually no susceptibility to noise. What is needed is a protocol to facilitate communication of data between modules via a distributed networking system. What is needed is a modern, novel communications bus and protocol to facilitate safe transmission of data via a distributed networking system. What is needed is a system which supplies power and data over the communications bus and protocol. What is needed is a system which substantially eliminates the need for separate PLCs on common types of industrial sites.